Edward Shippen IV

Edward Shippen IV (16 February 1729-15 April 1809) was a government official and judge in colonial Philadelphia under Great Britain. Shippen was a member of the powerful Shippen family and the father of Peggy Shippen, wife of Benedict Arnold and lover of Major John Andre.

Biography
Edward Shippen IV was born on 16 February 1729 in Philadelphia, a son of the merchant Edward Shippen III. Pennsylvania Attorney-General Tench Francis, Sr. taught him law, and he married his mentor's daughter Margaret in 1753, having nine children. In 1748, Shippen graduated from the Middle Temple in London, England, and in 1770 he became a member of the provincial council of Pennsylvania. Shippen was a Tory, but he attempted to stay neutral during the American Revolutionary War; he opposed laws giving the King more power in taxing Pennsylvanians, but he also opposed the 1776 Pennsylvania constitution, which reduced Judge Shippen's power. In 1791, he was appointed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and from 1799 to 1804 he served as Chief Justice before being impeached on political grounds. The next year, he was exonerated; he died at the age of 77 in 1809.